Cloaks and Swords
by KingSage
Summary: A new enemy has shown themselves in Jump City and it's up to the Titans to stop them. But Raven is finding it hard to concentrate because of strange happenings, mysterious animals, and a new face who claims to be a friend.
1. Chapter 1

Ch.1

It was noon in Jump city, and the Titans, save one, were enjoying the warm Californian sun. Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing Frisbee, Robin was running an obstacle course, and Starfire was playing with Silkie. Raven sat on the roof, far above the others, deep in meditation, oblivious of everything except her center. Of course, in Jump city, peace doesn't last too long. The communicators started blaring and Raven restlessly flew down to the garage.

"What now?" Raven asked in her monotonous voice.

"Break In downtown," Robin answered quickly, straddling his R-cycle. The rest of the Titans loaded into the T-car and they drove off.

Standing on a building across the water, stood a figure dressed in a dark cloak with a cat on his shoulder. He followed the blue and white car with his eyes. "Hmm, off they go." He turned around and ran to the other edge of the building and leapt into the air, the cat hardly budged except to reposition itself.

On arrival, the Teen Titan saw seven black clad cloaked figures exiting a store Raven recognized as the Mystical Eye, her magical ingredient supplier. The cloaked men moved like shadows, quick and silent. The Titans swiftly took up fighting stances as the seven men turned to face them.

"Halloween isn't for a few months," Robin said. "Stocking up early?" One of the men moved to the front and drew two katanas from his waist. The others followed their leader's example and drew their single swords as well.

"Your one to talk, you're already wearing your costumes," The leader said, taking a stance.

"Titans, Go!" As soon as the words left Robin's lips, the men were on them. Robin barely had his staff up high enough to block one blow when another came in from the leader's second sword. The Titans were separated by the cloaked men and were doing their best to fight off the fast blades and hidden blows.

Raven found herself faced with two. She quickly floated out of range and sent a black wave at the two swordsmen. One pivoted on one foot and took a fencing stance and the attack missed him by inches. The other man pulled out a dagger at the last minute and slashed the magic shockwave in half. The first man came out of his fencing stance and threw a light blue gem toward Raven. The gem froze a foot away from Raven and sent blue lightning to fill the gap.

Raven hit the ground hard and the gem streaked back to the man who threw it. Raven managed to raise herself on to an elbow to see the second man preparing to deliver a finishing blow, when a huge panther jumped between them. _Thanks Beast Boy_. Then something confused her. The panther was purple and gave off a magical black aura she only saw when she switched her view to the swordsmen.

Raven felt a hand on her arm and energy flowing back into her. When she turned around to see who it was, all she saw was Beast Boy as a bear finishing off his enemy. She turned back to the panther to see it knocking a robber into the wall. The other man dodged a swipe and threw flash powder at his feet. He appeared next to his ally and helped him get away. The rest of the warriors also fled a good few meters away and, with a swish of the cloak, vanished.

"Darn!" Robin hit the ground with his fist and stood up from his crouched position. "They got away. Everyone alright?"

"Super," Raven said sarcastically. She turned back to the panther to see it gone. "What was that?" she whispered to herself. She shook her head and got back into the T-car and they headed home.

"A drain gem?" The cloaked figure said to the cat on his shoulder. "They meant business. Hopefully, they won't use anything lethal next time 'round." He flew out of the alley and back to his vantage point across from the tower.

Raven went straight to her room after retuning back from the fight. She grabbed a book from her shelf labeled "The Magical World" and started to read. She came to a page that seemed to be stuck to another and separated them. On the inside of the stuck pages the book showed a picture of a huge panther with purple fur and a black aura drawn around it. "The Psylyber" said the caption.

Of all magical creatures, the psylyber is the curious of all. In the wild they hunt animals with low magic levels and attack those with high magic levels. In the off chance they attack you, remember, if defeated, they become loyal to you and you alone. This happens for the fact that psylybers were bred to help mages of high power. They are highly powerful by themselves, so do not engage unless well trained in the magical arts.

Raven read this a few times and thought. Psylybers attack high magic level beings, so why did it attack the swordsmen? They were carrying magic items, that knife and gem. Maybe they had more and the psylyber confused them for the swordsmen's magical power.

_But I would read as way higher than any trinkets those two could have. Why not me?_ That last though ran through her head all through out the afternoon and evening. After dinner she meditated in her room, but that thought even came then. _Why not me?_


	2. Chapter 2

Ch

Ch. 2

Raven woke up at four A.M. and couldn't get back to sleep. She lay in bed until seven then got up for the day. She reached for her cloak, but then got an idea. She took off her leotard and put on some normal clothes. She had loose black jeans, a black t-shirt under a blue hoody, and blue sneakers. She flew to her favorite bookstore/café and landed in an alley so no one would see her.

She got onto the street and entered the shop. The place was small, but comfortable. She skimmed the bookshelves until she found a book of poems and sat down in the café. She noticed two guys of probably seventeen sitting on the opposite wall. One was listening to music while reading what looked like Edgar Allen Poe. The other was drinking coffee or tea, she couldn't tell from where she was.

The teens looked almost identical, but one was wearing purple clothes while the other wore navy blue. Their hair was blue-violet, probably died. They wore unzipped hoodies and jeans. Raven turned back to her book and started to read again. After about five poems Raven looked up again, but this time out the window the teens were sitting at. Her eyes were pulled to a black aura around the teen in purple. The teen snapped his eyes to her and she quickly went back to her book. A poem later she paid for the book and left.

"I think she noticed," The purple clad teen said to the other one. The navy blue one shrugged.

"Let's go," The navy blue teen stated. "We should keep our eyes on her." The two of them paid and left after Raven.

Raven walked a few blocks and noticed she was being followed. She ducked into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. The two teens from the shop walked past the alley without even a glance inside. Raven let out the breath she was absently holding in and turned to exit the alley from the other side. A swirl of black appeared in front of her. The swirl manifested as one of the cloaked men she and the other titans had fought the day before.

"Metal will be glad to see you in shackles, mage," He said as more men appeared. Raven let her magic flow to her hands and got into a fighting position.

"Azarath," she began chanting. "Metrion." Before she got to finish two of the men fell as a person landed on each. The fallen angels swept two more off their feet, jumped up and kicked the remaining two in the face. The cloaked men stood and swirled their cloaks. Raven was left with the two strangers. "Who are you?"

The strangers stared at her then started out of the alley. Raven caught a glimpse of purple and blue in the sun as they turned out of sight. Raven flew back to the tower and changed back into her leotard and cloak. She walked into the commons room to see Beast Boy and Cyborg playing a videogame and Robin polishing his birdarands. Starfire was floating in the kitchen fixing some kind of inedible excuse for food.

"Hey, Raven," Robin said. "Where were you?"

"Out," Raven responded. She walked into the kitchen and worked around Starfire to make some tea. As she was sitting to wait, Starfire stuffed her gruel into Raven's mouth. Raven gagged and spit the sludge out. "What is that?!"

"Potlepca," Starfire said. "Redstar taught me the recipe."

"Next time ask, Star," Raven said. The kettle started to whistle and Raven quickly poured herself a cup to wash out the foul taste, as well as burn her tongue. "AH!" Raven put the cup down and gave herself a minute to recover. The alarm went off as the red light started to flash. Raven let out a groan and proceeded to answer the alarm with the rest of the Titans.

"You think this will work?" One cloaked man asked another standing guard with him. They were waiting outside of a warehouse door.

"I don't know," the second one said. "Metal doesn't exactly think like normal people any more. He gave up his humanity, remember?"

"True," The first replied. "Not to mention Enigma is getting anxious. Another one of those Devil Knights that killed his ancestor has shown up." They heard the motor of a motorcycle and car approaching. "Well they're here. Got to inform the others." The second man slipped through the door and the other stepped out to where he could be easily seen.

The titans turned a corner and stopped about twenty meters away. The man drew his katana and stood at the ready. "By the orders of the great Enigma, you shall all fall to the blades of the Cloaks."

"Cloaks," Beast boy said. "Not very imaginative, is it?" He dodged around a thrown dagger that stuck with a thunk in the door of the T-car.

"Hey!" Cyborg yelled. "That's my car!"

"Pitiful," Came a deep bellow from the warehouse. "Only five? There is no possible way five teenagers bested a squad of my Cloaks." The door of the building blasted off and pinned Starfire to the ground. Cyborg, Raven, and Robin tried to get it off, but it was stuck. Magic. Out of the door way, came a man in a grey cloak. The face couldn't be seen and the cloak didn't open. This man towered over the four Cloaks that followed it.

The cloak hood twitched and Cyborg was thrown into the wall of another warehouse. The hero couldn't pry himself off. He was stuck too. The grey cloaked man lowered the hood to show a head made of grey aura with no detail but two eyes. The cloak opened to show the rest of his body was the same. Grey magical energy in the shape of a seven foot tall muscular man. In his right hand was a giant axe.

"I guess the three of us will have to do this ourselves," Robin murmured under his breath. He pulled out his staff and charged the grey figure. The staff swung quickly, but stopped an inch from the grey man of its own volition. It retracted and the man smacked the gun-ho hero away with the flat of the axe. Two of the Cloaks subdued him and bound him up.

"This doesn't look good," Beast boy said. A small rock hit his head. It wrapped him up in metal bonds that conformed to the forms he took. Starfire was pinned, Cyborg stuck, Robin captured, and Beast boy bound.

Raven was alone.

"You are the last one, mage," The grey cloaked man said.

"Who are you?" Raven exclaimed.

"I am the Metal Master Cloak," The grey man said. "I am the master of the earth's Metal elements and servant of the great Enigma. He is to be the lord of the planet, and his reign will spread to the far reaches of the universe."

"Another maniac wanting to destroy the world, of course," Raven muttered.

"He is no maniac, mage," Metal replied. "His family has been the master of the art of Psychic since the middle ages. His mentality is quite straight. Now, enough dawdling." With a small hand gesture, Metal sent four more small stones of metal at Raven. She countered with a barrier, but was blown back by Metal's giant axe assaulting it and flying back to its owner's hand. Two Cloaks had flanked Raven and started throwing attack after attack at her.

They quickly got her restrained with a pair of drain shackles and dragged her back for their leader. Metal stood over Raven's struggling form and rested his arm on his axe. If at all possible, she thought the black face was smiling, even with a whole lack of a mouth. "Enigma will be pleased at your capture, mage."

"I have a name, you know," Raven retorted.

"It's of little importance," Metal said lazily. "Soon you will be no more than a pawn in his plans."

"I don't think so." Metal looked up and Raven shifted to see another player enter the fray. He was wearing navy blue clothing under a navy blue cloak, hood raised to hide his face. Two cloaks tried attacking him, but the figure countered by holding his hands out and creating two swords of pure black magic that impaled the would be attackers' heads. There was no blood or wound, as the Cloaks fell to the ground as if knocked out.

"Devil Knight," Metal sneered.

"Don't know anyone by that alias," the figure answered. "I go by Double Blade." The remaining three cloaks charged 'Double Blade', as he was called, blades drawn. 'Double Blade' threw one of his swords towards the three men. The sword multiplied into a volley of knives and dropped the men quickly. 'Double Blade' reformed the lost sword in his hand and took up a fighting stance, holding one sword out in front of him and the other over his head, pointed forward.

Metal threw his axe once more. 'Double Blade' rolled under it and started charging. He jumped over the returning axe and delivered two blows. Metal raised his axe right in time and punched the cloaked fighter back. As the fighter fell to the ground, he disappeared into the concrete, dissolving right into it.

"Damn devil knight," Metal muttered to himself. He spun around and countered a blow from 'Double Blade', who had resurfaced behind him, with his arm and countered with a swing of his axe. The axe stroke true and cleaved the figure in half. The body produced no blood and immediately disappeared completely before it even hit the ground. Another 'Double Blade' shot out of the ground with a devastating uppercut and started fighting with Metal again.

As Raven watched, she felt tugging at her cuffs. When she looked around, she saw 'Double Blade' trying to free her. "How-," She started and looked back at the fight, then back to her rescuer. "What the hell?"

Double Blade let out a short fit of laugh. "I love it when he sends me to do these jobs, the reaction's so funny," Double Blade stated with a slight chuckle.

"What"

"Aa- oh, Double Blade over there sent me to get you out of these." The figure couldn't be much older than herself. "Rude must be having a bad day though. You could say he was 'axed' to do the hard stuff." The figure chuckled again. With a laugh of satisfaction followed by a bone crushing hug, the Double Blade double had freed Raven from her bonds. He pulled Raven to her feet and led the way to the rest of the titans.

"Clever Devil Knight," Metal said. He tried cutting off the two, but was stopped by Double Blade delivering a kick to his face. Raven turned her attention back to the Double Blade that was trying to free Beast Boy from the metal binds.

"Quit struggling, changeling!" The figure muttered as he magically pried the metal entangle off. "Free Boy Wonder over there would you?" He asked Beast Boy before heading towards Cyborg. "Hey, s- oh, right. Hey, Raven, get Star free, huh?" Raven hesitated for a second before stepping over to Starfire and chanted a counter spell to lift the warehouse door off of her. The Double Blade duplicate had pried Cyborg off the warehouse wall and Beast Boy had already mauled his way through the binding holding Robin.

The Double Blade that was freeing the titans reformed with the original as he ran passed, saying, "Runrunrunrunrunrunrun!" With a quick glance, the Titans saw why." Twenty more Cloaks had rushed out of the warehouse and were charging straight for them. A wave of black magic from Raven knocked most of them to their backs, giving them enough time to get in the car and drive off.

"Who was that?" Beast Boy asked.

"Double Blade," was Raven's reply. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt like she knew him.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch

Ch. 3

After the confrontation at the warehouse, Robin had locked himself in his room to do some research. The rest of the Titans were free to do their own thing, but most were too down hearted to do anything but just revisit the fight. So, naturally, Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing video games. Starfire was sitting down with a large glass of mustard. Raven was in her own room doing her own research. Double Blade, nothing in her books made mention of Double Blade. She went to check the last shelf, all the way at the top again. She had skipped a few that she felt wouldn't give her an answer.

And there it was. Of course, how could she be so stupid? Right there, a book of Azarathian heraldry. The title Double Blade was used by some of the most skilled swordsman in her home dimension. They wielded two swords, but incorporated heavy magic along with steel to gain honor on the field of battle. Double Blade was one of the few titles given to those who reached the status of the Black Blade Brigade, right next to Twin Blade, Stealth Blade, Heavy Blade, and Quick Blade.

Could he be an Azarathian? The whole dimension was destroyed though. She was the only survivor. There's no other possibility, though. It must be true. Raven's head felt heavy and she left her room to heat up a cup of tea. A good cup of Earl Grey would relax her nerves.

"I told you, Cyrus, I don't want her to know yet," Double Blade said as he phased through Raven's window and into her room. The cat was perched on his shoulder, yet again. It looked at its owner with a very questioning look. "For my own reasons, okay?" The cat stretched. "No, it's not just for dramatic irony." The cat looked at him again. "Yes, I do feel guilty. Now can we get back to the task at hand?" The cat yawned. "Thank you." With that, Double Blade placed a scroll on Raven's pillow and turned to leave.

"Oh hey," Double Blade said. "Poe" He picked up a book and glanced it over before flying back out of the window with it.

"Hello, Raven," Starfire greeted as Raven walked into the Common Room. "Would you like to join me in a cup of mustard?"

"No thanks, Starfire," Raven answered. "I just want a cup of tea. A lot has happened today."

"Yes, the appearance of the Double Blade and the Metal Cloak Master is quite confusing," Starfire agreed. Raven set the water to boil and placed a tea bag into one of her tea cups and sat waiting, contemplating her discovery. Master Cloak definitely wasn't of Azarathian influence. Enigma made hardly any sense. The only thing she remembered was a story she heard as a child. A story that told of a Knight who was aligned with both heaven and hell that vanquished an evil lord who was called Enigma.

"Hey, Rae," Cyborg called from the couch. "Your water's boiling!" Raven pulled herself out of her thoughts and poured her tea. She sat there longer, trying to find anything else in her memory about anything about what had happened. When she finished her tea, she slipped out of the room and worked her way back to her room. Even before she opened her door she could sense a magical disturbance.

Her room radiated magic naturally, but there was a different aura. A familiar aura. One that she knew somewhere in the back of her memory. But more importantly, one that she felt only just that morning. She opened the door and readied her magic, but no one was inside. After a close inspection she found a scroll on her pillow and one of her poetry books missing, Edgar Allen Poe.

The aura felt benevolent for, it was Double Blades'. Not hard to figure it out, especially after seeing the Black Blade insignia on the scroll. She unraveled the scroll to see another shock. It was written in Azarathian. He _was_ a survivor. She read through the scroll and sighed.

Raven,

I know you don't know me, and you definitely don't trust me, so I'll understand if you don't do as I ask. I wish to meet you when there isn't combat. Please meet me on the tallest building an hour after you receive this. If I measure correct, this should be around 1:00. I will wait for an hour.

Sincerely,

DB

Raven replaced the books that were still lying around her room before flying off to make the meeting. He may be a survivor of Azarath, but that does not give him the right to barge into her room and (allegedly) take one of her books. She'd listen to what he has to say, give him a piece of her mind, and then return for another cup of tea.

Raven arrived at the meeting place around 12:46; at least that was her estimation. When she landed, no one was in site. She sat down and took the time to meditate, she had forgotten to that morning, with her trip to the bookstore. A while later she sensed a second presence.

"You came, I'm relieved," came Double Blades voice. Raven opened her eyes to see the mysterious teen that had been helping them. He looked different, some how. He walked up to her and embraced her in a hug before bringing her out at arms length. "You've changed. You seem more at ease."

"Who are you?" Raven asked stepping out of his reach. She finally noticed what was off; his clothes and cloak were black instead of navy blue. This sparked something in her mind. She probably missed it during the fight, but the doppelganger that had helped them was slightly different as well. Black clothes.

"I myself am the embodiment of Wisdom of Double Blade," he answered. "He wishes he was brave enough to meet you himself, but he feels guilty about his passed actions. More inaction, but he still feels burdened by it."

"Who is he?" Raven asked.

"An old acquaintance, I'd tell you more, but he wished to tell you himself when he feels ready," Wisdom replied. "I believe he should be able to face you by the end of the week, he's making great progress, but he still feels unworthy to talk to you."

"Why?"

"He didn't fulfill a promise he made to you years ago. He was unable to make it. His power was inadequate to help, and since he tapped into an inner power he feels as if he wasn't trying enough when you needed him."

Raven sat in silence for a minute as she combed her memory, but it was useless, she didn't remember much before leaving Azarath. She remembers friends, Arella, the prophecy… And a song, of all things.

"There was a… A song I remember vaguely from Azarath," What was she doing? Why was she asking about the song? "Does he know of it?"

"He should, and I should," was Wisdom's reply. "I helped him compose it, if it's the song I'm thinking of. He made it for you after all. He would never allow himself to forget it."

"Could you bring me to him?" Raven asked.

Wisdom shook his head in reply. He turned around and walked to the edge of the building. "He'll contact you again. He might even play the song for you. Until next time." With that he leapt into the air and flew off, leaving Raven to contemplate their conversation.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch

Ch. 4

When Raven returned to the tower, she couldn't possibly think of anything but the song. For some reason an unrecognizable tune would play in her head, distorted by memory loss and time. She knew the song, if 'knew' was the word. She was sure it was something she had adored as a child, a sound no other could match, but she couldn't remember it.

She became so frustrated by the fact that she was not only making nothing in the way of progress, but that she couldn't drop the train of thought. She sat in her room for hours just trying to recall the melody, or the person playing. She couldn't even remember the instrument it was played on. A glance at her clock told her she had wasted over seven hours on just the song.

Feeling defeated and imbecilic, she removed her cloak and went to bed early. She'd let her subconscious attempt to crack the hard unyielding shell that surrounded the song. If nothing else she could use the subject to lull herself to sleep for a few days if she didn't make any progress.

She dreamed that night. Not of fire, not of darkness, and with no sign of her father lurking in the shadows. She didn't see anything, there was no light, or at least, not at first. After some time she began to see something. But not only see, she could hear as well. She heard a soft, slow melody playing. It came from a grand piano that was becoming more visible with each note.

This was the song. The melody of the mysterious Double Blade. It was divine, loving, caring. It actually had its own conscious, not just a mood like most songs, but a true mind and soul. Or, at least that was the closest thing Raven could associate to the song. The piano continued to play, the musician invisible, non-existent.

As the song died, Raven could see the emptiness start to brighten, the piano fading into light. The sun had risen. She was awake now and her clock read 5:43 am. She sat in bed for a few minutes, replaying the melody in her head, but it didn't sound the same. She remembered the sensation of the protective presence of the song embracing her, the feeling that she was safe from everything, even her father.

But that was it. Memory, not the actual feeling. The song must be magically manipulated by the musician, by Double Blade to receive the effect. He was a gifted individual, being a strong swordsman and magician, not to mention composer and musician. But she still didn't know who he was. He was an old acquaintance, a Black Blade, a hero, yet he lacked the confidence to face her. Who was he, and what was his connection to her?

She figured there was no point in over thinking; the answers would come, as the song did. She got out of bed, donned her cloak and headed for the roof to meditate. On her way she passed a drowsy looking robin, seemingly on his way back to his room from a bathroom break. He had the look, the obsessive detective look. Like he was going to figure out who these 'cloaks' were even if he had to threaten to drop someone off Wayne Enterprises.

He grumbled something as he passed, but didn't make much contact otherwise. Raven continued her way up to the roof after giving her own grunted reply. When she opened the door to the roof, she felt so stupid. There was a magical force that smacked her straight in the nose as soon as the door was opened an inch. She quickly threw the door open the rest of the way to see a startled person in black clothes and cloak throw his hood up in time to stop her from seeing his face.

He looked Raven straight in the face, and something seemed to change about his stature. It became more, hunched, like he was tired or afraid, ashamed maybe. He jumped off the roof and flew away before Raven was able to say anything. There was a piece of paper on the ground, apparently dropped by the escaping figure.

On closer inspection, it was a photograph. It showed six little kids, around six or seven, she'd go as far as nine for one. One was her, she recognized her hairstyle. There was another with the same hair color, a boy about a year older than she was at the time. He had such a wide smile, she did for that matter. She was behind him, looking over his shoulder with her arms around his neck.

One of the other children had light grey hair and was smiling sagely for his age. He didn't look too much older than the first boy. There were a girl and boy with interlocked arms. Both had blackish blue hair, the boy was smiling mischievously, while the girl was looking slyly at the first boy. The last child was another boy, the one judged around nine. He looked strong, and dependable. He was smiling happily, but not as widely as Raven and the boy.

She was still contemplating the picture when it just disappeared, turning into magical essence and dissipating. She couldn't get the image out of her head, though. How could she have been so happy? Who were the other four people? One of them had to be Double Blade, the others were a complete mystery.

She let it slip from her mind, the answers would come in time, she told herself again before starting to meditate. It took her a minute longer to start her trance due to the picture not being completely out of her head, but when she finally got started, she was undisturbed until the end. As she pulled herself out of her meditation, she sighed.

Her communicator was blinking. A superheroes job was never done.

The Titans arrived to see the Metal Master Cloak waiting for them in front of the pizza place, Cloaks surrounded the building, guarding it from any approach of the police or the Titans, for that matter. "Glad you could join us, Titans," Metal said as they exited the T-car.

"What are you up to? You don't seem like the pizza type," Robin said.

"I just wanted to meet you again," Metal answered with a hint of humor. "I was so disappointed that you didn't want to meet my master. He wishes to meet you."

"I'll meet him when he's behind bars," Robin replied.

"They'd never hold him," Metal said, going into a combat stance. The Titans readied for combat as well, wary of the cloaks still around the building. "They won't attack you; they have orders to stay out of this fight."

"Then we'll make it a one-on-one," said a teen exiting the pizza place. Raven recognized him as one of the teens that was in the bookstore, the navy blue one. Two cloaks tried to stop him only to be thrown into each other by black magic. Metal was taken aback and turned to face the new opponent.

"Double Blade, I presume?" Asked Metal.

"Yeah, it's me," the teen replied. "Go home and enjoy a day off, Titans. I got this."

"I'm not leaving," Raven answered. "I have questions." Another presence made itself known. The other teen, the purple one had just grabbed Raven from behind.

"He's in no mood to answer questions," he said. "His wisdom told you that already." He threw her into the back seat of the T-car and shut it. Raven tried to get out, but the car was magically sealed. The rest of the Titans turned on the new teen, who didn't even bat an eyelash to their protests.

"Cyrus, stay out of the fight," Double Blade said. "Don't let them interfere either."

"Yes, yes, you told me already, sir," the second teen answered.

"So, Devil Knight, just you and me then?" Metal asked with a laugh. "You know you can't win this fight. I don't care if you've tapped into you power, I'm still an apparition of Metal. Your psychic powers will never even scratch me."

"So you say," Double Blade answered. He threw two of his magic swords, which morphed into the barrage of daggers. Metal spun his axe in front of himself, creating a shield that deflected all of the knives. As he brought the axe down he was struck from behind, then again from the front.

Two Double Blades were striking Metal without mercy or pause. All the while, the Master Cloak couldn't stop laughing. The blades were hardly harming him, as he had warned. With a quick swing, Metal slashed one in half and the other jumped out of range. Even as the injured one dissolved, the real one reengaged. Instead of swords, however, Double Blade was charging like he was going to fight him unarmed.

Double Blade jumped and delivered a two leg kick to Metal's nonexistent face. He landed on his hands and spun to deliver multiple kicks to Metal's midsection. He alternated his stance and started sweeping his feet low to throw Metal off his feet, but to no avail. Metal was anchored due to his aura's metallic bulk.

Metal retaliated with a stomp that caused metal shards, probably from a sewer line's support bars, to come flying out of the ground right under Double Blade, who was hit by a few of them, but was able to create a shield fast enough to block the bulk of the attack. His clothes were shredded in places, and his body was cut up, some of the wounds were deep, others were ignorable, but he was too injured to move much.

"Do you still believe you can win?" Metal asked, his words dripping with hate. "Do you think you can stand up to the power of the refined force of the metal elements in the planet itself? Do you think your little psychic powers would stop me? Pitiful." Metal delivered a kick that sent Double Blade flying against the wall of a nearby building. "Stand and die with honor."

Double Blade slowly got to his feet, his wounds taking their toll. He stood as tall as he could before doubling over in pain. He was too injured to do anything, not even stand. If he hadn't gotten that shield up, he would have been killed.

Still stuck in the car, Raven was almost crying. Double Blade didn't want them injured, so he took up the fight alone, knowing that Metal would not harm them until the fight was over. Unfortunately, Robin and the others wouldn't leave, and she wouldn't either.

"I'd leave," Cyrus said to them. "He'll turn on you next. My master is giving his life to give you time to escape."

"We're here to protect the city," Robin said. "We're not going anywhere."

"Robin is right, I will not leave," Starfire agreed.

"Yeah, we stay here," Beast Boy continued.

"If you think I'm letting that good for nothing Master Cloak get away with pinning my to a wall you can forget it," Cyborg stated.

"It's no skin off my nose," Cyrus answered. "But Raven isn't getting caught. I have my orders."

"Let me out," Raven yelled.

"No can do," Cyrus replied. "As I said, I have my orders."

"I said STAND UP!!" Metal yelled at the wounded Double Blade. He tried to comply, but his body wasn't strong enough. Metal approached the hero and lifted him up by his hair. "If you don't stand, I will slaughter the Titans and make you hear their screams as you bleed to death." He dropped Double Blades and walked towards the Titans, his axe poised to strike.

Cyborg blasted him with his sonic cannon, which did little in the ways of deterring their assailant. Metal just motioned with is empty hand, causing Cyborg to crumble to the floor with a cry of pain. Robin charged, but his staff activated itself and wrapped itself around him and constricted. There was the unmistakable sound of bones cracking and Robin let out his own pain filled yell. Beast Boy was stricken by a flying sword taken from one of the Cloaks and controlled by Metal, stabbing him in the thigh. Starfire let out a wail of rage and charged, but was hit with the shredding attack used on Double Blade, putting her out of the fight.

"Now for the mage," Metal said, turning to Cyrus, who had taken the form of a Psylyber and was growling loudly. With a swing of his axe Metal blasted the creature away. It turned into a house cat midway in the air and fell to the ground unconscious. Metal ripped the door of the T-car off telekinetically and pulled Raven out by her broach. "You will die slowly, just as the others are."

"No," said Double Blade. "Not again. Never again." He was standing now, his wounds were healed and his body was exuding black magic. The Aura formed a shape, one that looked like an armored man with four wings, two bird-like, two demon-like. The hands of the aura had two long blades each coming out of the back of the palms. "I vowed to protect her from all harm. I was not able when she needed it most, but I am stronger now. I will never let harm come to her."

"Fine words Devil Knight, but you can't stop m-," Metal's words were interrupted by the blades of Double Blades aura sinking into his chest. Ripping in opposite directions, Double Blade tore the Master Cloak apart. There was a scream of pain as the Apparition reformed. He dropped Raven and fell to the ground in pain. Two Cloaks were next to their master within seconds and all three disappeared in a twirl of cloaks.

Raven was lifted to her feet by the newly rejuvenated Double Blade. The blades reversed direction and sat in an at ease position along his arms. Double Blade didn't seem himself though. He was looking at her face with confidence and held her by her waist. Pulling her closer, he lifted her face to meet his own. "You are safe now, Dark Angel."

A split second later, the aura dissipated and Double Blade was hugging her around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I wasn't there when you needed me, when I promised I would. I promised, and I couldn't do anything. I'm useless. I'm sorry." With that he let her go and ran to his cat. Picking Cyrus up, he flew away.


End file.
